my go to menu

here are some super easy/safe bet/guarenteed good faves of mine that are part of my go to menu when i have guests! if you've ever been over and havent had salmon at the house you need to come back...it is one of my many go to recipes that is a safe bet and by far amazing probably because it came from one of the most amazing moms i know!


kath girl's salmon
salmon
marinate salmon in lemon pepper seasoning, lime juice, and olive oil for as long as you'd like (a few hours is plenty)...preheat oven to 350 and put the salmon on a foil lined cookie sheet skin side down--youll thank me later for this because clean up is a million times easier! put a little square of butter on the top and squeeze a little bit of lime juice on it and bake until it bubbles white in the middle of the salmon--remove from oven and cover it with the sauce (below)


the sauce (best part)
get a small container of light sour cream, a few spoon fulls of diced jalapenos, a tsp of salt, a tsp of pepper, and 3 tbsp of lime juice and mix that together...it gets spicier the longer that you let it sit but even people like kate who think mild salsa is spicy can eat it immediately prepared.


i'm not sure that i've ever spent time with my in laws when come on in salad has not been on the menu--it is one of those classic good foods that you think you could [and often do] eat and then continue to pick at even after you're full...


come on in salad
romaine lettuce
broccoli florets (cut up really small--no stems)
toasted ramen noodles (scrunch up just the noodles--no flavor packet--and then brown in a skillet with a little butter)
handful of walnuts


the dressing (dress the salad at the very last second so it doesn't get soggy & don't you dare use all of this dressing on one bowl of salad!)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp soy sauce


this cheater chocolate chocolate chip pound cake [my husbands weakness] is amazing...it's actually one of pig's mother's recipes but i have made it a staple at our house--sadly i don't even need to look in the cook book for this or any of the recipes on this page any longer.  last night i made it though with peanut butter chips and it was yummy too!


chocolate chip pound cake
the cake
1 box vanilla cake mix
1 big box (or 2 little boxes) instant chocolate pudding
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1-1/2 cups water
6 oz chocolate chips...however i use the whole darn bag!--sub or add in other chips if you want to change it up.


dump everything but the chips in the kitchen aid mixer...blend that up till it looks like cake batter and then with a spatula fold in the chocolate chips.


bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes...the key is though to check it at about 40 minutes by sliding a knife in the middle to see how goopy it is...45 minutes is the longest ive cooked it in a convection oven and in a conventional oven 50 is the longest--should be gooey when you get it out but not too raw...


optional glaze/drizzle
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp butter
milk...just add a tbsp at a time until it gets to the consistency that you want it to be...varies every time i make it
*if you want it to be chocolate add some cocoa powder to the mix!


bon appetit to some guaranteed good foods!